Mǔ qīn
by atlantiandragoness
Summary: "Clever. One would think this wasn't you're first time dealing with a dragon." Yao smirked in response. "You have no idea, aru."


My first Hetalia fic, and also the first ever written on my new computer (I got a laptop as a graduation present). I know I have other stories that _desperatly_ need updating, but I had to get this plot bunny out of my head. Not to mention that I'm completely stumped on them :/

Anyways... the prompt for this came from when I was thinking about the fact that China raised the other Asian nations. Exactly who would've raise him as a child? This is my interpretation.

* * *

"Mei li, are you sure about this?"

Golden-brown eyes turned to glare at the speaker, who was currently hidden by the glare coming from the mouth of the cave. Mei li, a dragoness with silver-blue scales, snorted in their general and turned her horned head away.

The speaker stepped further into the cave, revealing himself to be a large, dull red dragon. "Don't ignore me Mei li," he said. "I'm trying to keep you from doing something foolish."

"Then maybe you should trust my decision instead, Cheng," she snapped back, unfurling her long, serpentine tail to reveal a small, dark haired human child curled up against her warm belly, fast asleep.

"But it's human!" he protested.

Mei li gave him a skeptic look. "We are not at war with the humans. They revere us like gods. They look to us for good weather and fortune, and give us their prayers and offerings."

"And they've killed our kind for their own selfish devises before," he reminded her. "Reverence or not, their actions betray them. Eggs have been stolen and blood has been spilt because of human greed." He glared at the female's small charge. "They cannot be trusted."

Mei li positioned her head between the child and Cheng's stare, glaring back at the male. "He's different," she pointedly stated. Cheng took a small step back.

With a satisfied smirk, she looked back at the child. "There's something about him, something… special." She gave him a gentle lick across the temple. He giggled at the contact.

Mei li then turned back to her guest with a hard stare. "He stays."

The male dragon sighed. "Mei li, I wish you would reconsider."

She growled at him, quietly as to not wake the slumbering youth, but loud enough to get her point across. Which she did, seeing as the red dragon turned away with a look of disgust on his face. However, he knew better than to mess with a temperamental dragoness, especially a mother protecting her child.

"The other dragons aren't going to like this," he grumbled.

"Then so be it," Mei li retorted. "They have no jurisdiction over what I can and cannot do."

He turned to leave. "Fine, but remember what happened to the other dragons who decided to put their faith in mankind."

Mei li looked back at the child, her face slowly sinking to a frown. What if Cheng was right? She had been told stories of dragons that'd allowed themselves to be lured by the kindness of humans, only to be killed for their blood or scales, with the humans believed to have healing properties. Some may have even been eaten! How could she be sure that this boy, this innocent, defenseless youth, wouldn't grow to be like them?

The child, still blissfully floating through dreamland, snuggled closer to the much larger dragon, his small arms attempting to encase her in a hug.

"_Māma__…_" he mumbled. Her expression softened at the words and she bent her head down to lie beside him. The child sighed in his sleep and pressed himself into the soft purple fur of her mane.

Cheng watched stoically from the cave mouth.

"What will you call him?" he asked.

Mei li nuzzled her son affectionately with a contented smile.

"Yao. I will call him Yao."

* * *

Mei li stepped out of her cave into the bright afternoon sun. She stretched out her long body with a great yawn. She looked around. Yao was nowhere in sight, but she detected his scent nearby. Obviously the child was hiding, waiting for a chance to ambush her, so she'd play along with the little game.

"Hmm, I wonder where Yao could be?" she said aloud. She stuck her head into a nearby bush, spooking a few birds and a rabbit. "Not here." She peeked around a large boulder next. "Not here either."

Somewhere overhead she heard giggling. She glanced out of the corner of her eye at a shaking tree branch. _Ah, so that's where…_

"Oh where could he be?" she announced, purposely walking under the branch that concealed her child. A small weight suddenly deposited itself on her back with a cry of "Attack!" Mei li laughed and fell over on her side, pretending that the force of his pounce had taken her down. The dragon craned her neck to see his large, victorious grin.

"Gotcha, aru!" Yao announced proudly.

Mei li laughed. "Yes you did." She licked his check. Yao laughed and slid off the dragon, spreading himself out on the soft moss, his long, now shoulder-length, hair fanning out around his head, having grown a considerable bit over the years. Yao himself had grown too since she'd found him so long ago, though he was still nowhere near adulthood, or even adolescence. This struck Mei li as odd. He'd been living with her for over 100 years now, yet he'd only aged a few years by human standards.

She'd also noticed his reactions to changes in the land. The place they called home was a land ravaged by natural disasters, as humans continued to anger the guardians of nature. Mei li's magic kept them protected from the brunt of the disasters, yet Yao always came out of it with scars and bruises that he swore were from tripping or some other act of clumsiness. Either that or he'd fall ill for a while.

As she reflected on this, she noted a scar on Yao's forearm half hidden under his sleeve that appeared after the last earthquake they had. _'I got cut on an outstretched branch,' _he'd told her. And still, that wound had been there for months before it had shown any signs of healing. Just around the time the peasants had begun to finally recover from the disaster and rebuild.

Purely coincidence, she told herself. Yao was probably just reacting to the constant exposure to dragon magic and taking on some dragon-like characteristics of his own. Maybe he would even-

She was torn from her thoughts at a sudden noise. Both of them looked up at the red dragon walking along the rocks above the cave. He scoffed at them and stalked off out of sight. Mei li frowned at him.

"Mei li? Why doesn't Cheng like me, aru?"

She looked in surprise at Yao, who was staring up at the sky, tracing patterns in the clouds.

"He's just grumpy, pay him no attention," she lied. She couldn't tell him the real reason; that it was because he was human. As long as he thought he was a dragon and stayed far away from humans, he couldn't end up like them.

Yao rolled onto his side, unsatisfied with her answer. He looked at his hand, clenching and unclenching his fingers.

"I feel… different, aru. Unlike the other dragons."

"You are different Yao. "

He sighed. "I knew it." Mei li shook her head and nuzzled him.

"Being different isn't a bad thing, it just means you're destined for greatness."

Yao's expression brightened. "You think so, aru?"

"I know so."

* * *

Yao glanced about his surroundings. He'd never been in this part of the forest before, Mei li had made it clear to him that it was off limits. Still he was curious. What could be so bad about the forest? It was their home.

However, this part of the forest seemed to be darker than where they lived, and there wasn't a feel of magic in the air that radiated off the dragons. In fact, it felt dead. Even the few animals he'd seen were quiet and panicky, unlike the lively, playful animals back home. Yao was really starting to regret sneaking away while Mei li was out on an errand.

"You! Be careful with those traps!"

Yao ducked behind a bush when he heard the voices that spoke in his own language. Yet, they were unlike the deep, melodic voices of the dragons that seemed to speak with the very tones of nature. These voices were raspier and huskier and so unnatural. He pulled back the leaves to get a glance at the speakers.

His eyes went wide and he instantly fled the scene.

"Yao! Where were you? I was so worried," Mei li chided as he returned to the cave. "I told, you not to stray to far while I was away."

"I went to the edge of the woods, aru…" he mumbled.

"What?" she exclaimed. "I told you never to go there, it's dangerous!"

He ignored her statement. "I saw these strange creatures, aru. They… they looked like me…"

Mei li's warnings fell dead on her tongue. "Humans," she stated. "I was afraid this day would come."

"You knew about them?" he asked. The dragon nodded her head sadly.

"I'm sorry Yao, but you're not a dragon."

Yao could feel the tears welling up in his eyes. "You lied to me."

"I just wanted-"

"All these years you've been lying to me, aru…"

"Yao, I-"

The boy took off into the forest. "You lied!

"Yao! Come back! Yao!"

The boy kept running, tears blinding him. He didn't care if he crashed through bushes, or stumbled over rocks, not while his whole world was falling apart. His foot caught a root and he was sent crashing into a clearing. Yao stayed there, on this stomach, too devastated to even move. How could he, when everything he knew, his entire life, was nothing but a giant lie.

"Well boys, what do we have here?"

Yao gasped and jumped to his feet. The three creatures from before, the humans, had found him, and were slowly advancing on him.

"A long way from home, aren't ya kid?"

Yao remained silent, backing away. He didn't care if he had just discovered that he was the same as them, he didn't trust them at all.

"Not the talkative type, huh? Perfect, people pay more for quiet slaves."

Yao yelped as the man lunged forward and captured his arm, gripping it to the point of bruising.

"You're coming with us," he snarled. Yao struggled against his captor, but found he was too strong.

"No! Let go of me, aru!" he yelled, trying to pry the fingers from his arm. "Somebody! Help me! Help!"

"Help!" The cries reached Mei li, who had gone after the boy, hoping to bring him home and make amends.

"Yao," she whispered to the wind, and rushed in the direction of his voice.

Meanwhile, Yao continued to struggle against the men, only managing to anger them with his resistance.

"Stop fighting me, boy, it won't get you any-" An angry roar drowned out his voice as Mei li burst into the clearing to defend her son. The two other men screamed in terror and ran, leaving their companion, who still had a grip on Yao.

"_Lóng…"_ he murmured, too in shock to do anything else. Mei li glanced between him and Yao, her pupils narrowing to mere slits.

"Release my son," she hissed, and the man almost complied, until he realized that the boy was the only thing keeping the dragon from attacking him. He pulled Yao in front of him and reached for his knife, positioning it at the boy's throat. Mei li roared in anger, her scales rattling at the gall of this human. Yao noticed, however, that he was focused on Mei li, and not him, so he brought his foot down on the man's toes. The second the man flinched at the pain was enough to allow Yao to slip out of his grip.

He looked up again and saw the terrifying image of Mei li pouncing at him. He screamed and thrust is knife forward just as the dragon's claws caught him and hurled him across the clearing into a pile of rocks.

The man didn't get up.

Yao cautiously approached the dragon, who was panting heavily.

"Mei li…"

She suddenly collapsed onto her side with a groan of pain.

"Mei li! Are you alright?" Yao cried, rushing to her side. She made a whining noise, moving her paw to reveal that the blade had pierced her chest, right where her heart was. His breath hitched and he reached to gently pull the offending object out. Mei li groaned as it was removed, but said nothing. Yao then rushed to gather leaves.

"_Duí bu q__ǐ_," he said as he patted the leaves over the wound to stop the bleeding, "This wouldn't have happened if I'd just listened to you."

"No, I should've told you to truth. It's my fault," she said, her voice weak. Yao sniffed, trying to hold back his tears and failing.

"Shush, now. Don't cry," she whispered, lifting her head up to lick away his tears.

"But, humans did this to you, aru. And I'm… I'm…

"No," Mei li said. "You're not quite human, Yao. You're something greater, something… different." She cracked him a weak smile. "I'm afraid you'll have to figure that out on your own though."

"No, Mei li please, aru. I need you." He hugged her neck, burying his tear-stained face.

"_W__ǒ__ ài n__ǐ__,__" _she whispered, letting her body relax. Her eyes slowly slid shut.

Yao pulled away, feeling the warmth escaping her body. "Mei li?"

The dragon didn't respond.

He tried again, gently shaking her. "Mei li!" Still the dragon did not respond. Yao finally broke down, holding her close as he cried freely.

"_W__ǒ__ ài n__ǐ__, __m__ǔ__ qīn."_

* * *

Yao gently laid his brush on the desk as he finished up the final strokes. He held up the scroll to admire his painting, and then went to hang it on the wall.

There was a knock at the door.

"Um, China… sir?" a voice mumbled from the other side.

"Come in, aru," he said, too preoccupied to open the door himself at the moment. A skittish servant crept in, slowly approaching the nation. Yao pulled away from his painting, satisfied with its place on the wall.

"Wow, what a beautiful dragon," the servant praised, taking in the full effect of the silver-blue creature majestically weaving through the heavens.

He noted the writing above the painting. "Mei-li, huh? What a fitting title."

"Yes, yes it is," Yao muttered with a sad sort of smile. "Did you need something?"

"Huh? O-oh, yes," the servant said, chiding himself for forgetting his purpose. "Your new boss is ready to meet with you now…" he mumbled, trailing off at the end.

"Ah, good. _Xie xie_." The servant bowed politely, muttering some kind of response that Yao didn't quite catch, before scurrying off in a hurry.

Yao scratched his head. "Kind of reminds me of that kid that's around Ivan sometimes, aru," he said, shrugging it off and heading to the room where he was to meet his new boss. He paused in front of the door, straightening up his clothes to make sure he was presentable, and entered.

"Hello?" he called, unable to locate another's presence in the somewhat large room. Yao stepped into the center, jumping as the door closed behind him.

The Asian nation turned to find himself face to face with a green dragon, his long whiskers waving about as if they'd captured some non-existent draft. He exhaled, warm breath making Yao's bangs whip about.

Yao frowned and brushed his hair back into place.

The dragon, amused by this, chuckled, and began to circle around him like a tiger stalking it's prey, the furry tuft at the end of his tail occasionally brushing against his snout.

"So, you're China," he stated. "I must say, I didn't expect you to look this young."

"And I didn't expect you to look this scaly, aru," Yao retorted with a smirk.

His boss grinned. "Clever. One would think this wasn't you're first time dealing with a dragon."

Yao slipped out of the encircling coils and put his hands on the dragon's snout, forcing him to stop walking.

"You have no idea, aru."

* * *

The end seems a bit rushed to me, but I couldn't think of another way to write it without making it seem weird. Also, while I was writing this, certain aspects of the story started to remind me of Ikuto and Yukidarumon from Digimon Savers, if anyone else caught that. I guess you could say that was my inspiration, though it was of a coincidence than anything.

Chinese (Pinyin) used:

**Māma- **Mom

**Lóng- **Dragon

**Duí bu q****ǐ- **I'm sorry

**W****ǒ**** ài n****ǐ- **I love you

**M****ǔ**** qīn- **Mother

**Xie xie- **Thank you

Mei li's name means 'beautiful and graceful'

I don't speak Chinese, so if any of this is wrong or if I'm switching between dialects (as far as I know, it's all in Mandarin), please tell me.


End file.
